The Dickinson press., 1887-10-08
BOYS TAUGHT TO RIDE.
HOW YOUNGSTERS ARE TRAINED
TO RIDE RACERS TO VICTORY.

To be n Jockey - Boy Needs Nerve
and a Cool Head-Thc Road to For-
tune or "a Broken Neck-The Pay and
Other Matters.
"Do you want n boy:'
"a boy. What for! What can You do"
"Rilc horses. sir"
"How much do You weigll!"
"Sixty pounds, aud I'm Il good rider"
This was the conversation overheard in the
paddock at Monmouth park the Other day,
and then the writer began to ask som" uucs-
lions of one of the trainers about tine hoy
jockeys, how they begin, the work they nave
to do and how they urc pnid. To Inc II good
jockey requires n great deal of hard work,
nerve and patience, and those who are ponu-
lar now have worked hard for years to earn
their regulations. All the biz jockeys have
commenced to work when very Young, and
those who are Young now and just b2gip-
ming to ride in races all hope TINT some
day they will Inc as good riders rs Mrl.luSil-
lin, Garrison Hayward and others. 1t - boy
wants to become Il jockey he must be very
fond of horses and not ut all afraid of them,
and he must become attached I" Il racing
stable when lie is very young, ai,"nt IL years
old. When he first enters the s,ahl' Ii" will
be put to work as Il stable hoy aud hay. to
carry water to the horses, make NJ the bed
ding, clean harness and lead the horses about
for exercise. He will find that the wo.k is
not easy. He will lac ut the beck and call Of
every one i'll the stable, and, ii lie wants to
succeed in the profession he has chosen, must
he willing to work.
II THE RACING SEASON.
During the racing season TIL. boys are all
in bed by s Of O'Clock at night at the latest,
and they are all on the tract. with their
horses hy sunrise the next morning. All tho
work done in training the horses is done at
dawn. The next movea good 10y will ."t
is to have a horse given him to ru', down aud
to keep clean. In this position he is called a
rubber. After this. if he is IL bright boy. lie
is allowed to ride Il horse i'll his exercise Eal-
lops. This is rs far us many of the boys ever
rise because the next position is that ut Il
jockey.
To he Il jockey Il boy must have lots Of
nerve, n cool head, and he Il good rider. He
must be a good judge of pace and know very
nearly how fast tine horses are going along.
If n trainer thinks Il boy could he trusted
with Il horse in II race, lie gives him Il mount
i'll some unim,ortant race and then if tho
boy does well he will soon rise To the top If
"A 'NhN y ltS - S'''' "a "tiSt@
lin gets $4,000 II wear from the Dwycr
Brothers. Isaac Murphy gets $1,000 n year
from Lucky Baldwin. Fitzpatrick gets
5000 q Year from the Fairfax stable and
Garrison gets SS.ooo a year from Capt. =. :.
Brown; others get paid in lroportio" Il cord
ing to their abilities. All these riders are al
lowed TO accept outside mounts: that is they
are allowed to ride for amy one when they
are not wanted l,y the STALL. to which they
are engaged. For these outside mounts they
are paid SD if they VIII AMI Sloit t!,y lose.
But very often when they win n liz race
they get much larger fees. Mccarthy got
$1,000 for winning the Brooklyn haldica? on
Dry Monopole, and last Year Fitzpatrick Was
paid $4,000 for winning the Suburban o.,
Troubadour for Capt. Brown. S,:mc U; iAe
jockeys sl"nd tue money they make rs ia>:
as they get it. but others say" il. and !....!.y
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